Orthopaedic surgeons perform reparative or reconstructive surgery on joints which have been separated or dislocated by trauma. The goal of surgery is to properly align the adjacent bones of a joint and either repair or reconstruct the ligaments of the joint to maintain their position. With regard to the AC joint of the human shoulder (FIG. 1), the clavicle and acromion of the scapula (two bones of the AC joint) can be separated by traumatic injury. With significant separation, two sets of ligaments are damaged, particularly the AC and coracoclavicular (CC) ligaments. After reparative or reconstructive surgery to realign the AC joint, it is difficult to oppose the distracting forces at the joint while the AC and CC ligaments, or reconstructed ligaments, heal. Often during the early postoperative period, because the repair or reconstruction is not sufficiently strong, the AC joint may lose its alignment and re-separate. Methods, instruments and an implant to assist and strengthen the repair or reconstruction may maintain the alignment of the AC joint better while the repaired or reconstructed ligaments heal, allow an earlier more aggressive rehabilitation and quicker return to activities, and improve the outcome after AC joint surgery.